New Regulation 441

October 17, 2019 | Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers

Dear Grower Members,

The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC) has posted changes to Regulation 441,
which deals with the Board election process at meetings, on their website. Specific changes with
respect to upcoming elections (excerpted from OFPMC website) include:

(15) Despite any conflicting rules set out in sections 10, 11 and 12 and this section, the following specific
rules apply to an election held in 2019:

The Commission shall appoint the returning officer.
The local board shall accept nominations during the period beginning on November 1 and
ending on November 15.
If the election is held by mail,
i. the local board shall ensure that one ballot is mailed or delivered to each producer in
the district by November 22, and
ii. producers shall mail or deliver completed ballots to the returning officer by December
13 in order to be valid.
The local board and the Commission each have until December 13 to appoint a respective
scrutineer.
The returning officer shall ensure that votes are counted on or before December 20.
The local board shall, by no later than December 23, declare the candidates who have been
elected to the local board and notify the producers in the district of the candidates who
have been elected and the number of votes allowed for each candidate.

A full version of Regulation 441 can be found on the OFPMC website at
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/900441 The OFPMC will be appointing a returning officer for this year. The returning officer will oversee the election process and provide clarity on the election.

The OPVG has not yet been advised of the changes to Regulation 440, which outlines the process for annual crop negotiations, but we are hopeful that these changes will be received later this fall.
We will keep you posted as more information becomes available.

Sincerely,
Keith Robbins, General Manager